Subject: Goldenrod & Asters
From: pollinator@aol.com (Pollinator)
Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com
Date: Mon, 07 Sep 98 09:25:07
Message-ID: <MOD$980906.9001@rec.gardens.ecosystems>
Perspectives on Wild Goldenrod and Aster Blossoms
This is a critical time of year for our pollinators, as it is the last
chance for them to put away reserves for winter. When goldenrod starts to
bloom along the roadsides there usually is a big push for road crews to mow,
because people think they are allergic to goldenrod. Goldenrod pollen is
heavy and sticky; it cannot be airborne. The only way to get goldenrod pollen
in your nasal passages is to stick a flower up your nose. The real allergy
culprit is ragweed, which usually does not bloom along the roadsides anyway.
It blooms in cultivated fields, and its pollen can drift for many miles on the
wind.
Goldenrod and asters, in many areas, are the last significant nectar
bearing plants of the season. They usually are in wild areas where there is no
pesticide contamination, as well. Oftentimes bees have been knocked back again
and again through the growing season. Sometimes they have stored away
contaminated pollen, which can kill the hive later in winter when they have no
fresh pollen to dilute the effects of the stored poisoned pollen. So the
opportunity to store away fresh, uncontaminated pollen is just as important as
the nectar.
If you are in any position, where you can get the road crews to preserve
this important feed source for our pollinators, not mowing until after the
bloom is over; please help.
Honeybees, which are our primary pollinators of our food crops, are mostly
in the care of beekeepers now, so you are helping to feed your beekeeper's
"livestock" by keeping the pasturage healthy. (Beekeepers who prosper are a
guarantee of future pollination. Beekeepers are a group that are a great asset
to the community, simply by being present.) But more..... there are a few
feral (gone
wild) hives still left, and these are genetically extremely important, as they
may hold an ability to withstand the relentless losses of the varroa mite. (It
sure would be nice to find a pesticide-resistant strain of bees in the wild,
as well!)
There are also many solitary bees that are important to our pollination,
especially of native wild plants that feed our birds. As the last blooms of
the season are finishing, these solitary bees are finishing the nests of the
homes for next year's pollinators. These can be found in hollow reeds, holes
in the ground, and cracks, crevices and holes in wood. Many of these bees are
very tiny.
Wasps and hornets also visit asters and goldenrod. These have already
finished rearing brood. How often have you seen a hornet dart into your
cabbage plant, sieze a worm and fly off. That is to feed its baby sisters, and
the wasps and hornets are extemely important in the control of pest insects.
During the season, the adults receive sweet secretions from the babies they
raise. Then, when brood rearing is done, the adults have gotten a taste for
sugar, and they go seek sugar in any form. Some, like the imported german
yellow jacket can be a real nuisance around dumpsters, and into our soda can
at the Labor Day picnic. But most wasps, yellow jackets, and hornets go to
goldenrod and aster for their sweets. Most of these never visit a flower,
earlier in the season.
Nectar, stored as honey, is the energy supply of a bee hive. Sugar is
stored summer sunshine, which provides the energy to heat the hive in winter,
and to drive the mighty wing muscles of the bees. Pollen is the protein
source, mostly used to raise baby bees. Pollens vary quite a bit in food value
for the bees. Bees will gather pollen from corn, cotton, pines, and yes, even
ragweed, but the proteins in them are not near as good as others. Goldenrod
and aster pollen are among the very best.
The flush of goldenrod is a heady time for the bees. A few warm sunny
days, and a healthy hive can store up 50 to 100 lbs of honey and a pound or
two of pollen. Then frost comes along and nips the goldenrod, ending its
season. But asters continue to yield until they have a killing freeze.
Goldenrod honey stinks to high heaven, when bees are processing it. It has
a heavy smell reminiscent of a sweetened sewage. But when the bees finish, it
makes one of our finest honeys, very spicy in taste and yellow in color. .
Beeswax made from goldenrod nectar is among the most beautiful, a deep yellow
color. When the bees are working goldenrod they are especially vulnerable to
marauding bears, which are drawn from miles away by the odor.
Aster cannot yield such enormous quantities of nectar, but it is
significant, especially if it rained or was cold all during the goldenrod
bloom. Aster honey is water white, and extremely spicy in taste. It will
crystallize rapidly, often in the honeycomb.
Our pollinator populations are declining, and we must consider their care.
The human impact is enormous, both in pesticide misuse, which is probably the
worst all-around problem our pollinators face, and in the importation of new
pests and diseases.
Honeybees were not present in temperate North America, until Europeans
brought them, though there was a tropical honeybee that was cultured by the
Mayans. So honeybees are thought of as an exotic by some; they may even regard
it as a pest. But many of our most important food crops are also introduced,
and honeybees are required for their pollination.
In areas of high pesticide use, wild bees haven't got much of a chance
anyway, honeybees which have some protection from their keepers (and salvage
efforts otherwise) are the only pollinators available. Better enforcement of
the pesticide label directions for bees would save many of our pollinators. I
hope this is coming, but I am not holding my breath.
Besides pesticide misuse, other reasons for the decline of pollinators
are: suburban development (how quick the suburban homeowner poisons any bee
that comes his way), clearcut logging, removal of hedgerows, cleaner fields
(herbicides remove weeds that feed pollinators), introduction of fire ants
(preditors on ground-nesting solitary bees), and general paranoia of the
younger generation. Every year it gets harder for beekeepers to find places to
keep bees, and vandalism has increased, perhaps due to the "killer" bee hype.
Yet our bees are needed more than ever. Feeding a growing population is
the most significant to most of us. With one third of our food dependent on
bees, we cannot ignore the prosect of famine in our future, if bee populations
continue to decline.
Pollinator@aol.com Dave Green Hemingway, SC USA
The Pollination Scene: http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html
The Pollination Home Page: http://www.pollinator.com
Jan's Sweetness and Light Shop (Varietal Honeys and Beeswax Candles)
http://users.aol.com/SweetnessL/sweetlit.htm
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